Heating and ventilating or refrigerating apparatus and system.



No. 632,506. Patented sept. y5, |899. w. E. ALLINGTON.

HEATING AND VE'NTiLATlNG 0R REFRGERATING APPARATUS AND SYSTEM.

(Application led Oct. 17, 1898.)

5 Sheets-Sheet l.

(No Maciel.)

No. 632,506. Patented sept. 5, |899.

w. E. ALLINGTDN. y HEATING AND VENTILATING 0R REFRIGEBATING APPARATUS AND SYSTEM.

(Application med oct. 17, 1898,)

' 5 Sheets-Sheet 2- No. 632,506. Patented SepT. 5, |899. W. E. ALLINGTON.

HEATING AND VENTILATING 0R REFBIGEBATING APPARATUS AND SYSTEM.

(Application led Oct. 17, 1898.1

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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No. 632,506. Ptented sept. 5, |899.

l w. E. ALLINGTUN. HEATING AND VENTILATING 0R REFRIGERATING APPARATUS AND SYSTEM.

(Application led Oct. 17, 1898.1

5 Sheets-Sheet 4,

(No Model.)

fr@ ff' fr@ ff "a e e a e e @f a Q e Q o e Q Q a 2G Patented Sept. 5, |899.

w. E. ALLmGToN. HEATING AND VENTILATING 0R REFBIGERATING APPARATUS AND SYSTEM.

(Application led Oct. 17, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

IVILLIAM E. ALLINGTON, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN.

HEATING AND VENTILATING OR REFRIGERATING APPARATUS AND SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,506, dated September 5, 1899.

Application tiled October 17, 1898. Serial No. 693,728. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that LWILLIAM E. ALLINGTON, of Saginaw, East Side, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heating and Ventilating or Refrigerating Apparatus and Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to heating and ventilating or refrigerating apparatus and systems in which rotary fans are employed for introducing and delivering the air-currents to ber warmed, moved, or cooled.

y It has been the practice to construct separated heaters of' steam-pipes and inclosing them in suitable cases, with rotary fans attached for either drawing or blowing the aircurrents through the pipes and heater-case, and in these devices the currents are usually blown across the pipes, so that only one-half, or thereabout, of the entire heating-surface is presented to and cornes in contact with the air-blast, and therefore an extra amount of pipe has been necessary to compensate for the lack of effective heating-surface. This is also true with this class of refrigerating apparatus. The space occupied by the old systems with separated fans and heaters often makes it difficult to find suiiicient room for installation. It has also been proposed to inclose the fan in a casing having a single tangential outlet in its peripheral portion, the casing being of greater diameter than the fan and the heating-pipes occupying the space thus formed between the fau and the periphery of the casing. This construction is also open to the objection that only a portion of the heating-surface of the pipes is exposed to the air-currents, except at the point of discharge, so that full efficiency of the heatingsurface provided by said pipes is not effectively utilized.

The object of my invention is to secure in one apparatus occupying little or no more space than has heretofore been occupied by the fans alone a complete device, including fan, heater-coils, and headers, so arranged as to give full effect to all theheating-surface employed, certain and positive circulation to the heating or refrigerating iluid which passes through the pipes, high efficiency in delivering the air-currents` from the fan through the heater-coils, economy in space occupied, as well as material and labor of construction, and .also facility of automatic regulation.

To thesg ends my invention consists in the' matters and things which I shall hereinafter describe, and then particularly point out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a side elevation of an apparatus of the character described embodying my invention in one form. Fig. 2 is a similar view, the casing and headers or manifolds being shown in section and the remainder of the apparatus in elevation. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the casing, the fan and one-half of the pipes being omitted. Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 3, illustrating a modified form of my invention; and Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating a modilication of the construction shown in said figure.

In the said drawings, lO indicates a rotary fan which may be driven from any suitable source of power, it being shown in the present instance as mounted on a shaft l1, arranged to rotate in bearings l2 on suitable supporting-brackets 13 and provided with a pulley 14, by vmeans of which it maybe drivenby a belt from any suitable motor.

l5 indicates the pipes through which the heating or refrigerating fluid is passed. These pipes are arranged concentrically to the axis of the fan, and the innermost pipes are in close proximity to the periphery of the fan. I employ a plurality of pipes entirely surrounding the fan and lying radially outward therefrom, said pipes being suitably connected to asource of supply of the heating or ref rigerating Huid and being provided with suitable discharge connections.

In practice I prefer in an apparatus of ordinary size to divide the pipesinto two sections or groups, which sections or groups are located on opposite sides of an imaginary plane passing through the axis of the heater and dividing the same diametrically into two equal parts, as shown in Fig. 2, the pipes being bent into semicircular form and the pipes 'of the two groups being staggered, as shown in Fig. 3. In larger apparatus I may find it advisable to build up the pipes in polygonal form, as indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings;

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spending group of pipes.

but the number of sides of the polygon is obviously immaterial, and I regard both the polygonaland circular forms as within the scope of my invention. As a means for providing a connection for the pipes to their supply and discharge I prefer to employ an inlet or supply manifold or header 16 and a similar outlet or discharge manifold or header 17. These headers are preferably located diametrically opposite each other, the former being connected with the supply-pipe 18 and the latter with the outlet or discharge pipe 19. The pipes 15 are preferably connected to these manifolds or headers in the following arrangements of the pipes are made interchangeable, so that in construction one joint of thread on each pipe may be saved. It will be understood of course that when the polygonal form of construction is employed the pipes screw directly into the headers, as in dicated in Fig. 5.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 each of the headers or manifolds has a single continuous duid-space, so that all of the pipes are equally and simultaneously supplied. Y

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modification in which I employ divided or partitioned manifolds or a plurality of separate manifolds, each having a separate supply or outlet pipe. In the particular construction shown in said figure the upper manifold or header 16 is provided with a plurality of partitions 23 and the lower manifold or header 17 is provided with a corresponding plurality of partitions 24, Each of the separate divisions thusformed is provided With a separate supply-pipe 18a or outlet-pipe 19, and these pipes are provided with controlling-valves 25, so that the fluid may be admitted to any section of the supply-header and to the corre- In this manner any desired portion-less than the whole of the plurality of pipes may be employed at one time. It is obvious that instead of thus connecting the groups of pipes in parallel they may be similarly connected in series, if desired, and suitable thermostatic devices, such as are well known and Yrequire no detail description here, may be employed for controlling the valves, and consequently the cutting in or out of the several groups or sections of pipe. i

In connection with the fan and heater I proved manner.

prefer to employa fau-casing surrounding tween which and the side pieces 26 are lateral discharge-openings 29, annular in form and located at the margins of the side pieces outwardly beyond the pipes. The casing may be supported by a suitable metallic framework 30, which also carries the brackets 13 for the bearings 12 of the fan-shaft, and this frame also carries brackets 3l, which support the manifolds or headers. The inclosing ring 28 and side pieces 26 of the casing are preferably connected by brackets 32, located at intervals, as shown. It is obvious, however, that instead of thus providing a substantiallycontiuuous annulardischarge-opening at each side of the casing the side pieces may be continued directly to the inclosing ring and suitable openings may be provided in the marginal portions of the side pieces.

The form of casing shown is particularly adapted for use in large rooms with practically no subdivisionswas, for example, in the case where factories or the like are to be heated.

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In operating the device the fan-wheel is rotated by any suitable motor, either directly or indirectly connected thereto in any ap- The centrifugal force developed by the rotation of the fan-wheel causes the air between its blades to iiow radially outward, and thereby pass through the spaces between the pipes, while the angular velocity given to the air-currents by the rotation of the fan-wheel further causes the air-currents while passing through the spaces between the pipes to also travel lengthwise of the pipes. Furthermore, since the air-currents escape through lateral openings at the periphery of the case in lines substantially parallel with the axis of the fan-shaft lateral direction is also given to the air-currents by reason of their traveling toward the point of least resistance at the sides of the casing where they are to escape from the casing. These several movements imparted to the air-currents cause eral discharge through the annular space around each side of the apparatus is a fur- IIO ther factor in giving high efficiency to the fan-Wheel in this particular form of my invention owing to the free outlet for the delivery of the air with practically no resistance.

By reason of the construction and mode of operation described the non-effective heating-surface found in apparatus employing a separated fan and heater or refrigerator-coil is absent from a structure made in accordance with my invention, and I am therefore enabled to dispense with a considerable amount of pipe Without any diminution in the heating or refrigerating effect, or, in other words, a smaller total linear amount of piping will produce the same heating effect or the same amounta greater effect. The advantages due to the reduction in the space occupiedsuperior compactness andthe self-contained nature of the structure-are obvious, while the arrangement of the pipes gives a certain and positive circulation of the heating or refrigerating liuid through the apparatus.

In the form of apparatus illustrated in Fig. 3 it is designed that the full capacity of the apparatus, so far as the heating or refrigerating pipes are concerned, shall be always employed, the heating effect being varied by controlling the speed of the fan and the consequent delivery of air to the pipes. In the style of apparatus shown in Fig. a the apparatus is further controllable by varying the number of pipes or groups of pipes through which the heating or refrigerating uid is passed, so that the full capacity of the fanwheel may be employed for delivering a fixed volume of air, and the temperature may be controlledby cutting out or in the several i pipes or groups of pipes as they are required for reducing or raising the temperature. It is further obvious, as hereinbefore pointed out, that this cutting in or out may be effected automatically by suitable thermostatic regu'- lating mechanism, of which numerous forms are Well known and Well adapted for application to this apparatus, or it may be etfected by hand, if desired.

It is obvious that various modifications in the details of construction hereinbet'ore set forth may be made without departing from the principle of my invention. For instance, While I have employed the term concentric as descriptive of the relation of the pipes to the fan-Wheel I include in such term not only the circular arrangement of pipes shown and described, but also the polygonal arrangement set forth. Moreover, While I have referred to a divided or partitioned manifold I Wish it understood that I consider to be included in that phrase a manifold built up of a plurality of sections or a plurality of separate manifolds. I therefore do not Wish to be understood as limiting myself strictly to the precise details hereinbefore set forth.

I claiml. In an apparatus of the character described, a rotary fan-Wheel, a plurality of heating-pipes surrounding said fan-Wheel, and a casing for said Wheel and pipes comprising an air-space lying outward beyond the outermost pipes, said casing being provided With a substantially continuous lateral outlet communicating with said space and located between the outermost pipes and the inclosing peripheral Wall of the casing, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a rotary fan-Wheel, a plurality of pipes surrounding said fan-Wheel, and a casing for said Wheel and pipes having central inlet-openings opposite the fan, lateral portions inclosing the sides of the pipes, and a peripheral inclosing portion located some distance outward beyond the outermost pipes, whereby there are formed substantially continuous lateral outlets at the margins of the sides ot' the casing, said outlets being located outward beyond the outermost pipes, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination, with a rotary fan- Wheel, of a plurality of pipes arranged in close proximity to the periphery of the fan- Wheel and practically surrounding and substantially concentric therewith, and a casing surrounding and inclosing the fan-Wheel and pipes, said casing having central lateral airinlets extending radially a distance beyond the outermost pipes to form an annular airspace lying radially outward beyond said pipes and provided with annular air-outlets at the margins of its sides beyond said pipes, substantially as described.

WILLIAM E. ALLINGTON. iVitnesses:

FREDERICK C. GOODWIN, IRvINE MILLER.

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